Shrek
by mewmewgodess
Summary: A story using some of the Naruto characters based on the movie, Shrek. 'Neji is rejected by most until he finds himself in the company of a young fox and a 'princess'. They might just be the first people to truly accept him.' Shonnen-ai, NejiIta, -AU-
1. The Fox

**Act 1 - The Fox**

Happily ever after. That's how the story always ends.

'The princess has a curse put on her by an evil witch. She is locked away in the highest room in the tallest tower surrounded by lava and guarded by a dragon. Only a brave and handsome knight is going to be able to save her. He slays the dragon and rescues her. They share true loves first kiss. They then live happily ever after.'

Neji rolled his eyes and closed the book he was reading. 'Only the prince charmings and the beautiful princesses get happy endings. Not someone like me.' He thought with a sigh.

It was rare for the brunette to allow himself to pity. To pity others, and even more so himself. But reading about happy endings always upsets him. Reading about others happiness knowing he can't have that himself...It was depressing. And it was only because of his family.

He was born and branded with The Symbol. The head of his family had been told by a star-reader that it was in the stars to do so. Neji says that that was a load of crap. The man was obviously some kind of unstable. Why? Because The Symbol hadn't been used in nearly a century. It was how people in large families could tell the difference between those that mattered and those that didn't. The Symbol was put on those that didn't matter. The slaves. The ones that were used and trampled on by the important people.

Neji being the only person to have the seal, was treated worse then the other slaves had ever been treated. Everybody, not just his family, treated him like trash. Like someone worthless. So he ran away. He couldn't take the stares anymore.

The most important rule that came with having The Symbol was that you couldn't hide it. If anyone caught you with it hidden resulted in immediate death.

Even when he ran away, he didn't hide it. He knew he wasn't ever going to be found, but he just couldn't do so. Neji felt like it would be proof that he was ashamed. That he really was the trash they made him out to be. So he didn't hide it. He wore it proudly because from what he knew of his family's history, he was the first slave to get away alive. Those who saw him gave him disgusted glares and 'I'm better than you' stares. But he didn't care anymore. He got away. That's all that mattered to him. The ones who stared could go to hell. Because he had a small cabin to himself in the middle of the woods with a nice river running near it. Sure it was more of a swamp than anything else, but it was still his land.

Neji put away the book on one of the shelves inside the cabin. He tied his long brown hair into a low ponytail and headed outside for a walk. The weather was nice. The sun was warm and the wind was cool. He could hear the water from the river flowing calmly and the leaves from the trees rustling. The animals could be heard scurrying throughout the forest, looking for their suppers.

It wasn't long before he started to hear other sounds. A low growling sound was followed by the sound of numerous pairs of feet running through the woods. Neji remained where he was until the disturbance arrived before him. A red fox, with a slight tinge of orange in its fur, came running through the opening. It stopped once it saw him. It took a quick look at him before hiding behind him. Neji looked at the fox curiously. Usually foxes were noble and gracious creatures. Actually, they were known for their bravery yet this one was trembling, hiding behind him.

It was the source of the low growling, but the running feet were still approaching. Neji focused his attention towards the opening as a small group of five soldiers appeared. They stopped once they spotted him. Their eyes quickly went to his forehead where The Symbol was. Then towards the fox. His lavender eyes looked unimpressed as he glared at them for interrupting his peaceful walk.

The leader stepped forward slowly, "We are sent by Lord Orochimaru to collect all magical creatures." He said, unrolling a scroll with a large 'O' on it.

Neji's gaze remained unwavering, "I do not believe that your Lord Orochimaru is going to want anything that is mine. This fox is mine, and I suggest you get off my property." His voice was intimidating, as well as his height. He looked down at all of them easily.

The leader's mouth formed a frown, "Yes, you are correct. Nothing of yours is good enough for my men, so it's definitely not good enough for Lord Orochimaru." He turned around with a smug air and walked away. Neji let him leave despite his very violent thoughts.

Once the men were gone the fox ran in front of Neji with what looked like a smile, "Thank you! Thank you so much! They were going to take me away and put me somewhere! You were amazing, you intimidated him, even if he didn't show it much! That was great, I'm Naruto by the way, but call me Naru for short."

Neji had a hard time following the excited foxes chatter, "I'm Neji." He introduced himself and started walking back to his cabin with the fox jumping around behind him.

"I don't know what they're doing, but they're taking all of the magical creatures and putting them somewhere...I bet it's torture. I'm too pretty for torture! I'm glad I found you, you were so heroic! Standing up to those guys!" Naruto continued speaking.

Neji looked surprised, "Me? Heroic? I doubt it." The fox kept talking about how he really was a hero. Neji ignored him and after a few more minutes he interrupted him. "Look, now that they've left you alone, go home."

"But...Well, can I stay with you?" Naruto looked up at Neji hopefully.

Neji glared at the fox, "Only for one night. Tomorrow you leave." Naruto jumped excitedly and ran ahead towards the cabin.

"Is this where you live? It's...Nice!" The fox proceded to give any compliments he could think of, and by the time Neji reached the door, he was talking about how he got poison ivy when he was a young fox. Neji was getting really annoyed with Naruto's really random conversations. He opened the door and Naruto jumped up onto the chair near it, "It's just like a sleep-over! We can swap manly stories and in the morning, I'm going to make waffles!"

Neji's glare intensified, "You are staying outside. Now get out!" He barely managed to keep his temper under control. The fox's ears went down as did his head, "Oh...Well I guess we don't know each other that well so it makes sense." He got up slowly and walked outside. Neji felt no pity for him and he slammed the door behind himself when he entered the cabin.

The hours passed and Neji sat at his table alone eating supper. His eyes drifted towards the door, but he refused to let the fox inside.

He was in the midst of putting his dishes away when he heard a noise inside the house, "I thought I told you to stay outside!" He said to the fox. But Naruto jumped up so he was seen through the window and said, "But I am!"

His eyes went through his house and he saw a shadow. Three mice were walking on his table. They were wearing sunglasses and using canes to try to find their way. It took him a while, but he caught them. Despite their being blind, they were fast little creatures. He opened the front door and threw them outside, "I don't want anybody inside my house!" He told the mice and Naruto. Neji slammed the door and continued to clean up. His bad temper was apparent because when he heard the door open he rounded on the person with such fierce eyes Naruto started to tremble.

"I know you said you don't want anybody inside the house, but what about outside? What do you want to do about these guys?" The fox said and both he and Neji went outside.

His lavender eyes widened with what he saw outside. In the span of a couple minutes, dozens of magical creatures had camped out on his lawn. Pinocchio, the three blind mice, the three bears, Snow White, Tinker Bell, and many more. He breathed in and out trying to calm himself. Naruto quickly noticed this and said, "I didn't invite them!"

A couple people looked at Naruto as he said this, then they looked at Neji. They stared and eventually everybody was looking at him or The Symbol. Silence reigned in the area, "What is everybody doing here?" Neji spoke in a tense voice.

Pinocchio came forward slightly, "Uh...Lord Orochimaru had us sent here." He shrunk when the brunettes glare was brought onto him while he spoke.

"Alright! Who here know's where I can find this Orochimaru guy?" Neji asked.

Naruto was quick to speak, "I know! I know!"

Neji looked at him a moment before turning to the crowd, "Does anybody else know where I can find him? Anybody?"

The only noise in the area was Naruto jumping up and down saying, "I know! I know!"

"Alright. I'm going to go see this Orochimaru and tell him that I want my land back and you are all going to go back to where you came from." Cheers erupted from the crowd as he said this. He's never been cheered for before, but his anger didn't allow him to be happy about it. Neji looked at Naruto and pointed at him, "You. You're coming with me."

He started walking and Naruto followed him, "Neji and Naru going off on an exciting quest! It'll be awesome!"

* * *

AN: Um... I've had this lyring around on my computer for the past few months so I finally decided to post it. There are five chapters to this, all complete, and I will be posting them when I feel like it. Probably within a months time span. Anyways, this story is based off of the movie Shrek the First. Which is why I put it as a crossover fic between Naruto and Shrek.

The pairing is NejiIta (Woah, Neji is Seme? Where does that come from?). I read a fic with that pairing, and I wanted to try it with Neji as a seme. The idea for this came when I was watching Shrek the second. The scene where Shrek is human and he's riding donkey (As a horse), I got to thinking what Neji would look like as a 'Prince Charming'. Then I was wondering who could be Fiona, since Itachi/Neji is my favorite pairing, I thought, why not Itachi? And so that's where I started figuring things out.

Yes, so in the end, I hope you like it! The second part should be out shortly! (It's not a very long story, by the way.)

Thanks for reading,  
-MewMew


	2. The Lord

**Act 2 - The Lord**

His metal boots connected with the cement floor making a sound that reverberated against the walls. He stopped in front of a door and two guards in metal suits moved aside for him to enter. He pushed the door open and walked into the room. His loyal underman Kabuto was currently dipping Gingy the gingerbread cookie into a glass of milk. His spluttering was the only sound in the room.

"That's enough, Kabuto." At once the silver-haired assistant put down the cookie on a metal tray. He moved aside and lowered the table to the Leader's height.

Lord Orochimaru picked up Gingy's legs that had previously been taken off and made them walk accross the table, "Run, run, while you still can. Or the gingerbread man will come get you!" He said with a maniacal laugh.

"I'm not telling you anything! Eat me you fool!" The gingerbread spat on the Lord's face.

"Alright then." Lord Orochimaru moved his hand to grab the gum drop button but stopped when Gingy spoke, "No! Not the gum drop button! Fine, I'll tell you!"

Lord Orochimaru smiled, "So, where are the other magical creatures hiding?"

He was torturing the gingerbread cookie for that. Lord Orochimaru was looking for the remaining creatures so that he could dump them in the swamp. He wanted to rid his kingdom of the pesky things. His kingdom would be freak-free. Freaks were not meant to have good lives, so he has always believed.

"Do you know the muffin man?" Gingy whispered.

"The muffin man? The one on dreary road? Is he hiding them?" He questionned the small creature.

"She married him."

"She married the muffin man?"

Kabuto watched the exchange and wasn't sure how Lord Orochimaru knew who he was talking about. Who was the 'she'? But before the two reached that point the door opened and one of the soldiers walked in.

Lord Orochimaru turned to look at the new arrival, "Do you have it Sakon?"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." He said, and Jirobo brought in a large item covered by a white sheet. Other soldiers came into the room to watch the unveilling of the item.

"Show it to me." Jirobo took off the sheet and put it against the wall. The item was a mirror. But not any mirror, a magic mirror.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, isn't this the best kingdom of them all?" Lord Orochimaru walked towards the mirror calmly.

"Well it's not really a kingdom since you're not really a king." The face that had appeared in the mirror spoke.

"Ukon?" Lord Orochimaru said and the soldier pulled a small mirror out of his pocket. He punched the mirror and it broke, glass landing on the floor. It was meant to be a warning.

"I mean yet!" The mirror spoke quickly, "Before you can be king, you have to marry a princess."

Lord Orochimaru looked quite interested in this, "A princess hm?"

The mirror smiled, "Let me show you the three lucky bachelorettes!" He proceded to show Lord Orochimaru three choices. The first was Cinderella, the second Snow White, and the third was Princess Iris. "What will your choice be?"

The soldiers were saying different numbers. Some one, some two, and some three. Lord Orochimaru looked at the three different pictures that the mirror showed. He then turned his gaze upon his assistant Kabuto who was saying number three. Princess Iris was very pretty.

He lifted up his arm and rose three fingers, "I choose number three!"

The mirror zoomed in on the third Princess, "Princess Iris! Good choice! But I must tell you about the thing that happens after sunset." The mirror was told to shut up before he could warn him about the Princesse's little problem.

"Kabuto, assemble your best men. We will have a tournament and the winner is going to get my Princess."

* * *

"I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see-" Naruto started singing again but was quickly interrupted by Neji, "Shut up. I've told you before, don't sing." He was getting more annoyed with the fox by the minute.

"Aw...Alright! I'll tell you a story then! When I was younger I was walking in the-"

"We've arrived." Neji interrupted him once more. Before their eyes was the tall towers of Daloq, Lord Orochimaru's kingdom. Neji's eyes drifted upwards and smirked at the height, "Do you think he's compensating for something?" He chuckled softly. Naruto looked at him confused and instead of explaining like the fox would have liked, Neji started walking towards the entrance.

A man near the ticket booth took one look at them and started to walk away, "Wait! Can you tell us where Lord Orochimaru is?" The man ignored them completely.

Neji walked up to him and turned him around. He glared at the man who still had the guts to look down at him, "Where are your owners? A slave this vicious should be on a leash." Naruto didn't have the time to tell the man he was an idiot before Neji knocked him out.

"We aren't getting anything out of him. Let's walk around." They walked further into the kingdom and noticed something was amiss right away, "It's quiet. Too quiet." Neji spoke slowly, looking around.

"Yeah. Let's check this out!" Naruto said running towards an information booth. He took a rope between his teeth and pulled, as the sign directed. Neji came up behind him and stared at the circular object and waited.

When it started to tick, Naruto hid behind Neji. The bottom started to spin and the ticking grew faster and louder. Suddenly, the door opened and little people inside of it started to sing. Their voices were high pitched and annoying. So thought Neji.

Naruto came out of hiding and looked amusedly at the singing people. They were singing about how great a place Daloq is. It came to a close not quite soon enough for Neji. Naruto jumped forward saying, "Let's play it again!" But Neji grabbed him, "Let's not!" He held the small fox that was Naruto under his arm and started to walk towards the center of the kingdom.

When they heard noise coming from a stadium, Neji let go of Naruto and started heading towards it followed by the fox.

* * *

"You will all fight until there is only one person standing. The winner will go and rescue the Princess. If that person doesn't succeed, the next person in line will go, and so on and so forth." Lord Orochimaru spoke.

The soldiers and the crowds cheering was interrupted when a brunette with The Symbol, and red-orange fox entered the arena. They walked towards him and ignored the booing from the crowd. Neji spoke, "Are you Lord Orochimaru?"

Said person ignored the question, "The challenge will be different!" He had an idea and it would help choose the champion, and rid the world of this pest, "The one to kill the slave will be the winner!" He said and the soldiers turned towards Neji. The brunette glared dangerously.

"Wait! I'm here to discuss something!" Neji tried to get them to listen but they ignored him. He walked backwards as the soldiers walked forward. His back hit something solid. He turned and saw a large barel he knew was full of liquor. Neji grabbed one of the full cups, "Why don't we have a pint instead?"

He wasn't really in the mood to fight, but he knew he must since nobody was listening to him. Neji drank from the pint and started the battle that was to come by smashing the cup against the tap of the large keg. It came off and the liquor sprayed the men, making a few of them fall to the ground.

"Alright! It's party time now!" Said the fox as he and Neji charged towards the soldiers. Neji faught with the soldiers and knocked many of them out. Naruto climbed onto the keg, and as more soldiers entered the arena, he walked on it to make it roll over them.

Neji went into a wrestling area followed by two soldiers. He smashed their heads together and took his fighting stance. Naruto had his front paws on one of the wires and watched as Neji knocked soldier after soldier out. The crowds' booing had become cheers.

The lavender-eyed male grabbed one of the soldiers, and hearing Naruto say, "Tag me! Tag me!" Brought him over to the fox who banged his head against the soldiers, efficiently knocking him out, but the fox stared on as if it was nothing. Neji wasn't surprised that Naruto had such a hard head.

When the last soldier fell, Neji got out of the ring and went to the center of the arena. He looked up at Lord Orochimaru with a smirk. 'Looks like the slave's a bit tougher then you originally thought, hm?' Neji thought smugly. The loud cheers coming from the crowd boosted his ego.

Lord Orochimaru looked shocked at first, then smiled, "It seems we have a winner! The two of you will embark on a quest!"

"But we're already on a quest! I came here to get my land back." Neji said.

"Your land?" Lord Orochimaru asked curiously.

"Yes. The land where you dumped all those magical creatures."

The shocked gasps from the crowd didn't faze Lord Orochimaru, "That's your land? Well let's make a deal. If you bring me the princess, I will give you your land back."

"Exactly the way it was before?" Neji asked not trusting this man.

"Down to the very last mud-covered weed." The Lord said with a sneer.

"Yay! Another Neji and Naru quest!" The fox chipped excitedly.

* * *

AN: Well...Here's the second chapter! I think this is my least favorite of the five parts. No matter, I hope you liked it! The third part should be out shortly!

Thanks for reading,  
-MewMew


	3. The Dragon

**Act 3 - The Dragon**

"I'm on the road again, I'm on the road again!" Naruto sang.

"Stop singing."

"Can I whistle?"

"No."

"Hum?"

"Fine."

Naruto hummed until he started to smell something foul, "What's that smell?"

"It's brimstone. It means were close." Neji said and they climbed a rock wall. When they reached the top, what they saw on the other side made them gasp in awe. On the other side of the wall there was a large, creepy castle surrounded by lava with only a creaking, wooden bridge that will get them to the castle. "Let's get this over with."

Neji headed towards the bridge and saw that Naruto was slow to follow, "Are you afraid?"

"Of course not! It's just that large pools of lava unnerve me." Naruto said looking at the lava and jumped back as a piece of rock fell from under his paw and into the lava.

"Go on Naruto. I'll be right behind you. I'll be here for moral support. Alright?" Neji said pushing Naruto onto the bridge and blocked the path leading off it. Naruto walked slowly, "Knowing you're there does help..."

"Don't look down." Neji said when he saw that that's just what Naruto was doing. He jerked his head forward and walked. Suddenly one of the wooden boards fell from under his paw and he ended up staring straight at the lava, "I'm looking down!" Naruto turned around and tried to walk back but Neji blocked his way.

"Come on, we're halfway there." Neji said.

"Yes, but I know that half is safe!" Naruto replied.

"Well if you say so..." Neji took a step and shook the bridge.

"Don't do that!" Naruto said, frightened.

"Do what? This?" Neji smirked and shook the bridge once more.

"Yes!"

"Yes? You want me to keep doing it?"

"No! Stop it! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" Suddenly his paw walked onto solid ground. He looked up into Neji's smirking face and only then realized that Neji had been making him walk backwards and off the bridge.

"Oh! Thanks!" Naruto said. Neji passed him and walked into the castle with Naruto following behind him.

When they entered the castle, they knew that there was definitely a dragon. Walls had fallen and burn marks marked the walls. The further they walked into the castle the more destruction they found.

"This castle doesn't look very safe." Naruto spoke the obvious. He walked into a suit of armor and in his fright, made it crash to the ground. The noise echoed through the castle. Neji turned to him with anger in his eyes, "Sh! If you don't want the dragon to turn us into this," He pointed to the corpse next to the suit of armor, "We have to keep quiet."

Neji grabbed the helmet and some arm guards, and put them on while listening to the fox talk despite his warning. "Alright, you go that way and look for some stairs and I'll go this way."

"Stairs? What for?" Naruto asked.

"The princess is going to be in the highest room in the tallest tower." Neji said starting to walk away.

"How do you know that?"

"I read it in a book somewhere." And as he walked away, he could hear Naruto talking to himself.

"Stairs, I've got to find stairs." Naruto walked around, pretending that the corpses weren't there and neither were the burn marks. "Stairs..." He walked around and suddenly, as he turned around, a large eye was staring at him. It took him a moment to realize that the only eye that large would belong to the dragon.

"Neji! Neji! I found the dragon!" He yelled as he ran from the burst of flames that the dragon spat out. The dragon burst through the wall and chassed after him. It blew fire down the hall and Naruto ran even faster. They ended up in the main hall. Naruto cowered in a ball and it was when the dragon was about to make supper out of him that Neji arrived.

Neji grabbed the dragons tail, making it stop going after the fox. Naruto ran as Neji held as tightly as he could onto the tail. But once the dragon rose its tail into the air Neji was forced to let go and he went soaring through the air. He crashed through the roof.

Naruto yelled his name, but was too busy trying to hide from the dragon to go see if he was okay. He ran out of one of the rooms and found himself on a cement bridge. He ran forward but the dragon destroyed that part of the bridge. He turned around just in time for that part to be destroyed as well.

The dragon destroyed the bridge until there was only a small part left, where the fox sat, trembling. As the dragon neared the fox he spoke, "Oh...Uh, what lovely, sharp teeth you have!" The dragon stopped in its tracks for a moment, "They are so shiny and pearly white! You have to bleach them for them to be so perfect!" Naruto continued to flatter the dragon.

The dragon drew closer and that's when he realized something, "Oh! You're a girl dragon! A girl dragon. Do you have something in your eye?" The fox wasn't bright enough to notice that she was batting her eyes at him. She breathed out some smoke and it formed a heart. That's when Naruto caught on.

"Oh! Well you see..." He couldn't think of anything to say before the dragon bit his tail and lifted him up into the air. She brought him into the castle.

* * *

Neji stood up slowly. He looked around the room and when he turned around completely, he saw a beautiful princess laying in a bed. He had landed in the highest room in the tallest tower. He walked up to her. Her black hair was tied, she had a gold tiara on her head, and she wore a red dress. Neji grabbed her shoulders and shook her awake.

She sat up with a start, "My valiant knight, you have finally come to save me!" She didn't have the time to say anything else before she was being pulled out of the room, "Let's go." Neji said.

"Wait! This is our first meeting, we should cherish it! And we're supposed to climb down a rope through the window and get onto your trusted steed!"

Neji looked at her a moment before continuing to pull her, "This ain't your normal fairy tale, princess." They ran down the stairs and accross one of the many bridges, "Well, can't you tell me a poem? How about a sonnet? A verse? A phrase perhaps?" She tried to get anything fairytale-like to come from this, but he just wouldn't cooperate.

That's when she heard a growl, "You haven't slain the dragon yet?"

"It's on my to-do list." They went through the main hall but she stopped him from going into a room, "That's not the exit!"

He turned towards her, "I'm going to save my pain in the ass first." He opened the door, barely hearing what she said, "What kind of knight are you?"

"A special one." He said over his shoulder. She followed after him.

Neji found himself in a large room and in the middle of it sat the dragon with her tail wrapped around Naruto. "I'm not much for physical relationships, and I'm not ready for emotional ones yet. We could be friends, pen pals maybe." Neji listened to Naruto try to convince the dragon to let him go while he looked for a better way to do so.

He saw a chain and jumped onto it. He swung for a while, and finally stopped. Neji looked up and saw that the chain was holding a chandelier. It would make for a perfect distraction. Neji pulled on the chain and it started to unroll. He ended up on the ground and when he let go of the chain, the chandelier fell. The dragon made to breath fire onto him, but she looked up and stared at the chandelier.

As she did that, it fell and ended up around her neck. In the process, she had let go of Naruto, who was running towards Neji. Neji ran out of the room followed by Naruto. He saw the princess and stopped for a second to throw her over his shoulder and to grab Naruto under his arm. It would be faster this way.

He ran with the dragon chassing after him. Neji ran through the piers in the main hall, making the dragon tangle her chain in them. In front of the exit, he let go of the princess and the fox. "Run! Get out of here, I'll take care of the dragon." They started running towards the exit. Neji grabbed a sword that was nearby and stabbed it into the ground between two of the intertwined chains.

After this, he ran out of the door leading to the wooden bridge. Fire followed him out. The three of them started running accross the bridge and halfway accross it, the part nearest the castle fell. The fire had caught on the bridge and the ropes had burnt. They were against the opposing wall, clinging to the bridge. Naruto fell because he couldn't get a good grip, but Neji caught him right before he fell into the boiling lava.

The dragon came rushing out of the castle but because of the sword, couldn't reach them. When she decided to retreat to the castle when she realized she couldn't get to them, they climbed up the ladder.

They didn't speak for a few minutes, but when they were sure they were safe Iris spoke up, "So do I get to see the face of my rescuer?" She said, looking up at Neji. He was much taller than her.

Naruto looked at Neji to see what he would do and wasn't surprised when he shook his head, "No."

"But you are my knight, my rescuer! I must thank you properly!" Naruto cleared his throat, and the princess looked at him and smiled, "I must also thank you, the brave steed!"

"DId you hear that? She called me a brave steed!" Naruto was proud and the princess was happy to of made him happy. "What is your name?" She asked Neji.

"Neji." He spoke quickly, wanting to get this over with. He just wanted to go home.

"Well Neji, you must take off your helmet, so I may see the face of my rescuer." She said once more.

"I already said no."

"Take off your helmet!" She said in an angry voice and both Naruto and Neji stared at her once more. "You asked for it." Neji said, and lift up his arms slowly. He took off the helmet and looked at her expression. It was what he expected. Shock, surprise, and confusion.

"You have The Symbol." She whispered.

"Yes, I'm a slave." He said tensely. Naruto watched the exchange unsure of what to make of it.

"But...You're a slave! You can't be my knight! It's not how it goes, the princess gets rescued by a daring prince!" Neji didn't like how someone set their whole life after a fairytale.

"What were you expecting? Prince Charming?" Neji's temper showed through his tone.

"Actually, yes!"

Before Neji could reply, Naruto spoke, "We were sent here by Lord Orochimaru to rescue you." Princess Iris looked at him before sitting on a nearby rock, "Well you can tell Lord Orochimaru that if he wishes to wed me, then he has to come get me like he is supposed to."

Neji glared at her, "I'm not a messenger, I'm a delivery boy." Neji said and she glared back, "You wouldn't dare." In the blink of an eye she found herself thrown over his shoulder. She banged her fist against his back but he ignored her. "You will regret this!"

Soon enough she stopped. She and Naruto spoke for most of the day. When they reached a lake, Neji dropped her to the ground and knelt next to it, "Ouch!" She said, standing up. Neji used the water to rid himself of the dirt on his face and hands that he had gotten during their escapade in the castle. He turned to face the other two, "We'll be there by morning."

"Wait! Aren't we going to make camp?" Asked the princess.

"I want you out of my hands as soon as possible. If you need sleep I'll carry you again." But she didn't pay attention when he said that. She looked out towards the sun. It was nearing sunset.

"I want to make camp tonight!" She said in that voice that says 'Don't argue with me'. Neji rolled his eyes but nodded, "Fine."

They searched and they quickly found a spot for her to camp. They moved a boulder and inside there was easily enough room for her. "Perfect. It's missing just one thing." She walked away and came back with a large piece of bark, "It needs a door." Looking at the sun again she spoke quickly, "It's getting late, good night!" And she went inside the cave and put the bark to hide the hole.

Neji and Naruto looked at each other before going off to make a fire.

A couple hours later, the two lay next to each other. Neji was pointing out some of the stars and their meaning. It wasn't long before Naruto changed the topic, "When we get back to our cabin, what are we going to do?" Neji looked at Naruto before saying, "When I get back to my cabin, I'm going to build a ten foot wall around it."

"But how will people get in?" Naruto asked.

"They won't. That's the point."

"But we'll-" Neji interrupted him abrutly, "There is no 'we'. There is me and you. And it is only my cabin. I'll go back to my cabin and you go off to do whatever you were doing before."

Naruto stood up and looked at Neji, "Why do you not want anybody to get in? Who do you not want to get in?" He repeated it often enough that Neji got annoyed enough to just answer the stupid question, "Everybody! And I want to be alone!"

"Finally we're getting somewhere!" Naruto said with excitement.

"I want to be alone because I'm tired of having people look at me and think of me as nothing. I'm tired of being thought of as trash. If nobody goes near me, then they won't think of me as a useless, worthless, slave." Neji said and he went to sit on the edge of the mountain and stared up at the moon.

Naruto walked up to him and sat down, "I didn't think you were useless, or worthless when I met you."

"I know." Neji smiled at the fox.

"So are there any foxes up there?" Naruto asked Neji.

"There's Kyuubi, the fox with nine tails." Neji said pointing out one of the stars.

"Oh I see it! That big, shiny one right there?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, that's the moon."

They hadn't realized that the princess had heard every single word.

* * *

AN: This is the end of the chapter! I hope you liked it! It's my favorite chapter. I think. Anyways, I'm putting this out today because it's a special day! It's Neji's birthday! Happy Birthday to him! (I see now that's it's odd to wish a happy birthday to a fictional character but...I don't care :P)

Also, the part where he says 'I have to save my pain in the ass' This phrase was the only reason I had second doubts about making Naruto a Fox, instead of keeping Donkey. Because my favorite line in the movie is when he says 'I have to save my ass', but I finally just decided to have Naruto be a fox. But I was really doubtful for a long time.

Yes, so, I hope you liked it,  
Thanks for reading!  
-MewMew


	4. The Princess

**Act 4 - The Princess**

Princess Iris woke up in a great mood. From what she'd heard last night, she had really mis-judged the man. She came out of the cabin and saw that the two men were fast asleep. Within the hour they awoke to the smell of fresh eggs. She decided to make breakfast for them.

"Are you...Making breakfast?" Neji asked, a bit confused. He was sure that she didn't like him very much.

"Yes, I decided that I behaved badly and that I judged you before I got to know you. So I apologize for that." It seemed she had a change of heart.

Naruto and Neji shared a look as the princess went off, humming softly to herself. They followed her quietly. Or, as quietly as Naruto could be.

They were getting along very well. Moreso than the day before. It was going great.

"So what is this Lord Orochimaru like?" She asked them sometime during the day. She didn't seem very excited.

"Some people think _little _of him." Neji said with a chuckle and Naruto joined in the laughter.

"He's-" Before Naruto could say something else, the princess who had been walking ahead of them, was whisked off her feet. She was brought upon a large rock and standing next to her was a man in green tights. "Mademoiselle, I have saved you from being stuck with a low life like this boy." He spoke with a strong french accent.

"Get away from me!" She said, pushing him away from her, "Who are you?"

He looked shocked, "I have forgotten to introduce myself. Men!" Suddenly, five other men came out of the woods. They started singing, but before they could finish the song, Princess Iris knocked out the Leader who tried to kiss her. One of them threw a sword but she side-stepped it and landed a kick to his gut.

WIthin a minute she knocked out the last guy by punching him through his accordion. Neji and Naruto stared at her in amazement. She was great! She brushed her hair aside and walked up to the two of them with a smile on her lips. "That was amazing!" Naruto said in awe.

"You were really great, where did you learn to fight like that?" Neji asked her.

"I had way to much free time on my hands." She said with a smile. Her eyes drifted towards his arm where she noticed that he had a scratch. Blood was coming out of it slowly. "You're hurt!" It seems like the sword that had been thrown had grazed his arm.

He looked down at his arm and shrugged, "Could be worse."

Naruto said, "What's going on?"

"Neji's hurt!" Iris told him. That's when the fox started to panic, he jumped around saying, "Hurt? Oh my god! Is he going to live?" And he continued to speak until Iris spoke up, "Why don't you go get me a blue flower with red thorns on it?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, "Alright! Blue flower, red thorns. Don't worry Neji! I'll get it back soon!" He ran off, repeating 'Blue flower, red thorns' the entire way.

"What's the flower for?" Neji asked the princess.

"To get rid of Naruto." She said. She grabbed his arm and inspected the wound carefully. "I'll bandage it for you." Neji pulled away but she kept trying to grab his arm again. It didn't take long before both of them ended up on the ground, the Princess lay on top of Neji. She slowly lifted up her hand to trace The Symbol on his forehead.

"If you two had wanted to be alone you just had to ask." Naruto said with a sly look on his face. The two stood up with guilty looks before Iris grabbed Neji's arm and bandaged it. Naruto saw the blood and immediately fainted. She finished bandaging him and he went to pick up the fox. They proceded to continue walking the rest of the way.

When Naruto woke up Daloq was in view. They were nearly there. Princess Iris looked at the sun and spoke, "Let's make camp here."

Neji replied, "But we're nearly there." He hated to say it, but it was the truth. And besides, the sooner she left, the sooner things went back to normal.

"Yes, well..."

"Oh, I get it!" Naruto said, "You're afraid of the dark!"

"Yes! That's it! I'm terrified, can't stand the dark." She went along with what the fox said, "I'll go get some firewood then?" She asked, and Neji nodded, "I'll find us something to eat." Naruto followed Neji into the forest.

They ate what Neji had cooked up for them quietly, Naruto had eaten quickly and fallen asleep right after. Only Neji and the Princess were awake.

"This is really good." Iris said, taking a bite of the meat that Neji had caught.

"Thank you." Neji replied. He wasn't used to compliments. It was nice.

"I guess I'll be dinning differently tomorrow." She spoke as she looked at the castle that awaited her.

"Yeah. Well maybe someday you can come visit me at my cabin." Neji offered and looked at her.

"I'd like that." She replied, smiling at him. Suddenly she noticed the sun was quickly going down. She stood up quickly, "I've got to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning!" She said hurriedly and went into the cabin that they had found earlier for her. He barely managed to get out a 'good night' before she closed the door.

Naruto slowly sat up. Neji had gotten up and sat at the edge of the field to look at the castle. Naruto sat next to him, "You like her."

"No I don't. Besides, even if I did, a princess doesn't belong with a slave." He spoke sorrowfully.

Naruto tried to talk some sense into him, but nothing worked. He got up and decided to speak with the Princess instead. He left Neji alone and went to the cabin. He opened the door quietly, "Princess? Are you in here?" He walked slowly among the garbage that littered the cabin.

"Princess?" He repeated and he heard the sound of somebody walking. He walked a bit more, but suddenly somebody jumped in front of him. Naruto yelled out but the person put a hand over his mouth.

"Naruto! It's me!" The voice was that of a man, but the eyes were the same. This man was the Princess. The person before him, as said, was a man, with black hair tied in a ponytail, red eyes and a masculine body.

"What...What happened to you?" The beautiful princess had somehow become a handsome man.

He sighed softly and looked at himself in a bucket of water, "By day one way, by night another, with true love's kiss, you will find your true form."

"What is that, some kind of riddle?" Naruto asked.

"No, it's a spell that was put on me a long, long time ago. Every night after sunset I become this. A man. I've been like this for as long as I can remember." He sat down on one of the stools.

Naruto went up to him, "But it's not that bad."

"Not that bad? It's awful! Even after I get true love's kiss, I don't know which form I'm going to take! If I marry the prince tomorrow, and I end up keeping this male form, how will I explain it to him? Or if I marry a woman, and I keep my princess form? A same-sex relationship can't happen. For any civillian, I'm not against it, but as a princess, or prince, it just can't happen."

"But I know somebody who might be in love with you, who wouldn't care if you're a man or woman."

Outside Neji was walking towards the door with a flower in his hand. He'd been thinking about what Naruto said, and maybe he should say something. Even if he gets rejected, it's better to have said it than never know the result. He was about to knock on the door when he heard Naruto speaking, "It's not as bad as you think. Really. It's horrible, I'll admit."

Neji dropped the flower and walked away before hearing the rest.

Back inside, Naruto continued, "I'll admit, having that kind of curse put on you, and it must have been confusing. But the answer is simple, Neji will love you wether you're man or woman."

"I suppose..."

"Before I leave, what name do you use when you're male?" Naruto asked, because Iris isn't a very manly name.

"I go by Itachi." He said with a small smile. Naruto then left the cabin with a promise not to tell Neji any of it. When Naruto was gone, Itachi looked to the ground and saw a flower. He picked it up and brought it inside.

Right before the sun rose up the next morning Itachi sat pulling the pedals from the flower, "I'll tell him, I won't tell him, I will tell him." He said, pulling out the last pedal. He stood up with a smile and walked out of the cabin, "Neji! Neji?" He looked around but couldn't see the brunette anywhere. His chance to show him the truth was lost, because the sun had just come up.

Light surrounded him as he transformed back into a woman. When the light had gone, Naruto was just waking up, "Good morning Naruto."

Before a reply could be spoken Neji was seen coming up the mountain. Iris went up to him, "Neji, I have something-" Neji interrupted her, "I brought you a little something."

She heard a horn, and soon soldiers were coming up the hill. It seemed he went to get the prince during the night. Naruto slowly hid himself behind Neji as they drew nearer. The princess looked at Neji and couldn't see anything on his face except a small glare.

"You are the princess." Lord Orochimaru said, looking at Iris.

"And you are the prince who has had me rescued."

"Here's the princess, now I want my land back." Neji said walking towards the prince, "Yes, here is the deed to your swamp." The prince gave Neji a piece of paper.

Neji meant to leave, but Iris spoke, "Wait, I must say a proper good-bye."

Neji looked at her, "No need to waste good manners on the slave." The prince said. He clapped his fingers and was lifted off his horse by Kabuto and put on the ground. "Now my dear," He grabbed her hand and went down on one knee, "Will you marry me?"

Iris looked at Neji, "You needn't feel sorry for him. He is but a slave, he has no feelings." The prince said and she turned to look at him, "You're right, he has no feelings. I will marry you, Lord Orochimaru." She said.

She was put on the horse behind him and they trotted away, towards the castle.

Neji walked away, followed by Naruto, "You're letting her get away!" Naruto said.

"So? If you two are such great friends, why don't you follow her home?" Neji said angrily.

"But..." Naruto started, but Neji turned towards him with a fierce glare.

"Go home Naruto. Just go home." He said and walked away, leaving the fox to bow his head in sadness.

* * *

AN: This is the before last chapter! I find this chapter fast-paced, but it was also fast-paced in the movie so...Yeah. I personally really dislike this chapter. I would like to re-write it, but I wrote this so long ago, that I just don't feel like it...I believe it's getting obvious that I was getting tired of writting this by this chapter :) I think I just pushed myself too much to hurry writting this. But, I can say I'm happy that it was finished and not just another incomplete file on my computer!

Anyhow, hope you liked it!  
-MewMew


	5. The End

**Act 5 - The End**

Lord Orochimaru was the happiest of them all. He had his princess, and when he married her, he would be king. At the moment he was trying on his wedding clothes and smiled into the mirror. The face in the mirror smiled back at him, "You look splendid." But the mirror couldn't help thinking about what would happen if sunset arrived before the kiss.

* * *

Princess Iris looked into the mirror that one of the mistresses held up. She looked good in the white dress, but she just couldn't bring herself to smile. Neji had been mad and she didn't understand why. Naruto had said that he loved her...

She walked up to her wedding cake, and couldn't resist the urge to push down the little groom that stood on it, until he was knee-deep in the cake. She looked at their height differences and smiled.

The princess then went off to eat by herself in the large dinning room. But she couldn't bring herself to eat much. She brought her head into her hands. Iris hadn't expected to feel like this when she went to the castle, when she was going to be wed to the prince she'd been waiting for. She secretly wondered if Cinderella, Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty ever felt like they weren't doing the right thing.

* * *

Neji was glad to find his land free of magical creatures. He wasn't really in the mood for company. He cleaned up the mess that his unwelcome visitors had left and made himself some dinner. As he sat alone, he couldn't help wishing that he had someone sitting accross from him to talk to.

He sighed and pushed his plate away. He wasn't very hungry. The brunette had thought he would be happy to return. To have his land back to what it was before. He thought he wanted to be alone.

But at the moment, the loneliness was eating at him, making him feel sad. He didn't like it. The happiness he had expected to be there when he returned wasn't coming. All he could think of was the princess, and even the fox. He brought his head into his hands and wished that his regrets would just disappear.

* * *

Naruto sat before a small river and stared into his reflection. He knew he would be sad. And he knew he would miss both Neji and Iris. They had become his friends. His ears drooped down when he thought of the fact that he never had friends before. He liked having people to talk to. They didn't seem to mind him as much as everyone else did.

He stared into the water solemly. Suddenly he heard somebody crying. The fox looked around and saw that the dragon was sitting nearby, crying, and also staring into her reflection. Naruto stood up and sat down next to her. He talked to her, and quickly she stopped crying. Naruto stood up quickly. He had an idea. He would make Neji go save the princess from a loveless marriage. A happy ending was going to happen, if Naruto had anything to say about it.

* * *

Neji finished his lunch and as he was putting his things away he heard a noise outside. He opened the door and he saw that Naruto was forming some kind of wall with branches and rocks. He walked over to the fox.

"What are you doing?" Neji asked.

"I'm building the wall. Just like you wanted." Naruto said, pushing a branch into place.

"I wanted the wall around my land, not through it." Neji's tone was laced with anger.

"That's your half, this is my half. I did half the work, half the trouble, so I get half of the prize." Naruto said waiting for Neji to get angry. And angry he got.

"This is my land, it was mine from the beginning!" Neji threw one of the branches of the wall away, "I want you off my property!" He started to walk away, but Naruto followed behind.

"We have to go get the princess! Neither of them love each other! It isn't right!" Naruto said, and he ran in front of Neji, stopping him from walking. The slave walked around him and into his home and slammed the door behind him. "You and her were having so much fun talking about me, why don't you go save her!" Neji yelled out so that Naruto could hear him through the door.

"We weren't talking about you! We were talking about someone else..." Naruto now understood why Neji was upset. The door opened slowly, "Then...Who were you talking about?"

"I'm not allowed to say...But I can say that the princess doesn't give a damn about your Symbol! She doesn't think of you as a slave, she really likes you!" Naruto spoke enthusiastically.

"But even so, it's too late! We'll never make it to the castle on time!" Neji said, looking towards the direction where the castle was.

Naruto smiled, "Don't worry, I've figured it all out!" The fox let out a whistle and for a moment there was only silence. Neji waited and suddenly a large dragon came into his view. Not any dragon either, the dragon from the castle. The dragon landed next to Naruto and waited.

"Come on! Climb on, she'll get us there in no time!" The two climbed onto the dragon's back and she spread her large wings and took flight. The wind blew in their hair/fur as they passed mile after mile. Soon enough the castle came into view. She landed next to the church and they jumped off her back.

"Thanks! I'll whistle if I need you!" Naruto told her and she took off into the kingdom, most likely looking for a meal.

Neji looked at Naruto, "Alright, let's crash this wedding." He was going to enter but Naruto stopped him, "We have to do this right! We have to wait for him to say 'Does anyone object' and then you run in saying 'I object!'" The fox spoke excitedly.

Neji rolled his eyes and made to enter the church again but was stopped, "Come on! Chicks dig the romantic crap!" Neji sighed, but waited.

He repeatedly threw up the fox so that he could look through the window. It was a couple minutes later that in mid-flight, Naruto said, "He's already said it." And Neji let him fall to the ground. Ignoring the fox and whatever he was going to say, he pushed open the church doors and entered.

The bride and groom were just about to kiss when they heard the door open with a slam. They looked at the door and saw Neji entering, "Wait!" He said walking towards them, completely ignoring the boo's coming from the crowd.

"Look what the cat dragged in, the slave." Lord Orochimaru said with a sneer, Neji spoke before he could get the guards to stop him.

"You can't marry him! He's only marrying you so he can be king!" Iris looked at the short man beside her. He didn't seem to care about what he just said.

"No matter! Just kiss me!" He made to kiss her but she pulled back.

"What does it matter to you?" She asked the brunette.

Neji stuttered repeatedly and suddenly the prince started to laugh, "This is rich! It seems that the slave, is in love with the princess!" The crowd laughed along with him. Neji looked uncertainly at them, but turned towards the princess to see her reaction. Her eyes looked at him with softness.

"Now princess, let us ignore this pest, and let us be wed!" Once again, the prince tried to make her kiss him but she pulled back again.

"Wait, first I have to show you something." She looked out of the window and saw that the sun was nearly set. She pulled her hand out of the princes and walked towards the window. Both Neji and Lord Orochimaru stared at her and waited for what was going to happen.

As the sun went down, light surrounded her body. Everyone stared in amazement. Within moments the light left her body and where she had stood before, was a man. The dress had transformed into a man's suit and Neji had to admit that he was really handsome.

"Princess? Well, this explains a lot." Neji started to walk towards her but the prince interrupted him, "Guards! Capture this traitor!" He pointed towards the princess/prince.

Numerous guards surrounded the men. They reached out to each other, but they were separated before their hands could touch. Neji knocked out as many as he could, and he managed to get away for a second. During that second he whistled as loudly as he could, hoping that the dragon heard it.

It seems she did, for a few seconds later the dragon came bursting through the large round window. "Capture it!" Lord Orochimaru got out, but anything else was lost when the dragon lowered her head and ate him. Any guards that remained ran off screaming.

The crowd weren't sure what to do, so they cheered. Neji and Itachi stared at each other for a moment, "So do I still call you princess, or do you have another preference?" Neji asked him with a smile.

"Call me Itachi." Itachi smiled back at him. They walked towards each other slowly, "Does this...Not bother you?" Itachi asked uncertainly.

"Of course not!" Neji spoke as if that were an absurd thought.

"Told you so!" Naruto said from the background.

Neji wound his arms around Itachi's waist and lowered his head. The prince closed the space between them. The moment their lips touched, light started to surround Itachi. Neji pulled back and took a step back when Itachi started to float. He rose into the air and the light spun around him. The spell that was cast on him was being spoken by the light, "By day one way, by night another, only true love's kiss will bring out your true form."

The light blinded them all and exploded, destroying all of the churches windows. Slowly the light disappeared and Itachi was lowered back to the ground. He looked at his unchanged form with a sad look, "I was so sure I would go to my other form."

"It doesn't change anything." Neji said reassuringly.

Itachi looked into his eyes, "But it does! How can you love me if I'm like this?"

Neji smiled, "The body you wear doesn't effect the person inside."

Itachi smiled back and grabbed Neji's hands, "Thank you."

The crowd awed as they kissed once more.

* * *

AN: Ehm...The end! Here's the last chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it! It was pretty fun to write!

Thanks for reading!  
Owari,  
-MewMew


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